Resources

End of Book Quotes

“We need to move past the notion of excellence on the basis of reputation, marketing budgets, or size, and expect greatness to be described by broad outcome measures across time, demographics, and sectors of the community.”

“No one’s ego is more important than the well-being of the patients or the staff.”

“What you tolerate, you support.”

Innovation Keys

“Get close enough to the work to feel the moral imperative.”

“Use structure to improve innovation.”

“Maintain a disciplined disregard for conventional wisdom.”

“The more special and protected we treat the executives, the less special and more afraid the staff feel.”

“Holding accountable is looking backward. Being responsible for their success is looking forward. Excellence will be found in the balance.”

“The chain of command is always a weak link in the communication chain.”

“Humble listening builds strong bonds to deeper values.”

“Small-market competition is best replaced by disciplined, values-driven systems that commit to transparent, measurable improvements in the community’s well-being.”

“There is often a big gap between doing something and accomplishing something.”

“Collaboration will multiply your investment faster than the stock market.”

Coalitions of competitors can find common values and common goals.

“The cultures of the partners don’t have to match exactly, but you have to have similar values and similar goals. If you don’t have similar values, then working together is going to be a mess, and if you don’t have the same goals, then you won’t be heading in the same direction, and the partnership will lose focus and disintegrate.”

“We had to ignore the conventional wisdom of the day, which says a choice must be made either between jobs and the environment or between cost savings and the environment.”

“Durability is needed to live your values outside the spotlight despite crisis and hardship.”

“The balance is to celebrate your staff’s successes without developing hubris or complacency.”

“A strong organization with a steadfast commitment to its values will attract partners willing to make long-term investments.”

“The more complicated the lives of our staff, the more they need us to understand those struggles.”

“If you don’t have the courage to implement your values, they are just words.”

“Comparing yourself to your mediocre past or mediocre peers is not excellence.”

“People won’t remember your margins or your awards; they will remember how you treated them.”

“Chaos and confusion—what a perfect place to start. This was an area where we could do the most good for those in the most need.”

Stephen Covey

“Above all, success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy and superb organizational executions. Distrust is the enemy of both . . . High trust won’t necessarily rescue a poor strategy, but low trust will almost always derail a good one.”